Morgan Stanley reopens Global Brands strategy

Morgan Stanley Investment Management has reopened its Global Brands fund, after closing the strategy three years ago.

The company said the fund had “re-opened for subscriptions after capacity became available in the strategy”.

The strategy had $13.3bn (£8.8bn) in assets at the end of September, with capacity having become available due to outflows on the fund. MSIM’s more diversified Global Quality strategy had seen some of these inflows.

The Global Brands strategy closed to retail investors in October 2012.

“We have long taken a conservative approach to capacity management and will continue to do so to protect investment returns,” said William Lock, head of the international equity team at MSIM.

The strategy is run as a concentrated equity portfolio, with around 30 holdings.

The fund has returned 30.27 per cent over three years, against 26.39 per cent for the global sector, according to FE data. Over six months the fund has delivered a 4.17 per cent loss, compared to -11.70 per cent for the market.